Bourekas: Savory Cheese-Filled Pastries

These cheese-filled pastries are relatively easy to make — if you purchase the dough to make your feta-filled bourekas. Flaky filo dough makes the best bourekas, but you can also use puff pastry and pie dough. For the filling, pair a pungent cheese such as feta or Parmesan with a mild one such as cottage cheese.

Preparation time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Yield: 15 to 20 small pastries

Keeping kosher: Dairy

1/2 pound filo dough (about 10 sheets)

1/4 cup farmers’ cheese or ricotta cheese

1/2 cup finely crumbled feta cheese

1 large egg

1/3 cup grated cheddar or Swiss cheese

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Small pinch of salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1/3 to 1/2 cup melted butter, for brushing dough

1 teaspoon sesame seeds, for sprinkling

If the filo dough is frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove it from the refrigerator 2 hours before using it, leaving it wrapped.

Mash the farmers’ cheese with the feta cheese in a medium bowl until blended.